Construction underway on temporary housing in Calgary for High River flood evacuees

Clara Ho, Calgary Herald07.02.2013

Parts of High River remain flooded more than a week after the first flooding began. Construction on temporary housing for as many as 1,000 displaced High River residents has begun in southeast Calgary.

As more High River residents prepare to return home Monday, the city announced Sunday a work camp-like site is being set up in southeast Calgary to temporarily house evacuees who need temporary housing while their flood-ravaged town undergoes recovery and reconstruction.

At the province's request, the City of Calgary was asked to provide land with access to utilities, water, sewer and electricity, and that could accommodate up to 1,000 High River residents displaced by flooding, said Bruce Burrell, head of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency.

"There's work going on and we're in the process of signing an agreement with the province for that site," Burrell told reporters Sunday morning.

Construction of the site started Saturday in southeast Calgary's Great Plains industrial area and will be set up over the next two weeks, he added.

The temporary accommodation facility in Calgary will also be open to evacuees from Kananaskis, Canmore, even Calgary, who were displaced by floods, said Shane Schreiber, director of the High River Task force, which is helping residents get back in their homes.

The University of Lethbridge is also temporarily housing some High River residents, and another site near the Cargill meat processing plant is being considered, Schreiber added.

He said the goal of these facilities is to get people out of evacuation centres in the area, including in Nanton and Blackie.

"We'd like to move people off the cots in those evacuation centres and into better, more comfortable housing," he said.

But Burrell said there are no immediate plans to build such sites for Calgarians as the city is still trying to get a better count of how many citizens will require temporary housing. He wants those numbers narrowed down before going to the province for assistance.

"It's no good for us to go to the province and say, 'You need to help us find housing for 2,000 people if we're only going to use 40 of them.'"

Rooms at some Calgary universities and colleges are still available for short-term accommodations, Burrell said, adding there are also spaces for temporary lodging for a period up to a few weeks.

Calgary, High River and other neighbouring communities are in the midst of mopping up and assessing losses after a historic flood washed through southern Alberta last week, killing at least four people and wreaking millions - possibly billions - of dollars in damage.

Sunday marked the first day residents of Calgary and Canmore were able to access pre-loaded debit cards from the province, which are intended to help evacuees deal with immediate expenses.

Hundreds of displaced Calgarians stood in long lines in the hot sun to receive the cards. To qualify for one, flood victims must have received an evacuation order and must have been out of their homes for at least seven days.

Human Services Minister Dave Hancock declined to guess how many cards might be handed out in Calgary, saying only that the government is "prepared to meet the demand."

In the first three days the debit cards were handed out, about 4,100 payments totalling $10.25 million supported approximately 10,250 people, the province said.

Meanwhile, more than 50 assessment teams have been deployed to Calgary to review properties in the city, Burrell said. Those members will be checking on the state and rate of reconstruction for damaged buildings, and how many tenants or residents will need to find temporary homes.

"What we need the count of is the people who can't relocate because they have no support. Once we have that count, we'll probably be having some discussions with the province about what the province will do to assist the city of Calgary in providing temporary accommodation for those people," Burrell said.

Some buildings in the downtown area will have to have their electrical systems — including boiler systems, heating ventilation and air conditioning — redesigned and rebuilt after sustaining significant damage by turbid water full of silt and contaminants, Burrell said.

"We're getting initial assessment reports for some buildings as long as six to eight months for recovery," he said, adding that includes both residential and commercial properties.

While power has been restored to the whole downtown grid, crews are having problems adding buildings back onto the grid due to the significant water and silt damage, Burrell said.

"It means all of that equipment is going to have to be replaced. It can't be easily cleaned."

If assessments determine a building must be demolished, tenants and residents will be allowed to safely re-enter the buildings to retrieve as many belongings as possible before the building is torn down. Already, more than 120 buildings have been flagged for possible demolition.

Currently, Calgary and 10 other communities remain under local states of emergency, down from 18 on Thursday. The Town of High River is under a provincial state of emergency, meaning the province has assumed responsibility for emergency operations, programs and town services.

Burrell said Calgary's state of emergency expires Wednesday, but could be lifted a little earlier.

"The main reason for keeping it in place currently is because some of the powers we have that allow us to purchase things more rapidly, get our hands on goods, make deals that normally we have to get approvals for," he said.

"So there's a benefit to staying in a local state of emergency. But there's also a point where you want to be careful you're not abusing the powers because it will be much more difficult to get it again in the future if you want to use them."

Burrell also announced the ban on outdoor water usage was lifted as of midnight on Sunday, though he reminded citizens to continue to limit their water usage. However, boating restrictions on the Bow and Elbow Rivers remain in effect. Citizens are encouraged to stay off and away from the riverbanks.

In addition, Burrell urged people not to dump mud and slurry into river systems as the waste material can contain contaminants. Those materials can be dumped at two emergency dumping facilities, one at Spring Gardens at 1025 32 Ave. N.E. and the other in Highfield-Bonnybrook at 1442 46 Ave. S.E.

While it's been a tense week for Calgarians mopping up after the flood crisis, Canada Day celebrations will go on. Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he didn't want to disappoint the many people, especially children, who look forward to the festivities each year.

"Although the event has been scaled down, I believe it will act as a huge example of our resiliency and celebrate our spirit of volunteerism."

For those heading out of town over the long weekend, motorists are reminded that nine provincial highways remain closed and two have restricted access. Four lanes are now open on the TransCanada Highway entering Canmore, though the roadway is reduced to one lane in each direction when crews are working in the area.

Highway 1A east and west of Exshaw is still closed, except to emergency vehicles and residents heading from Exshaw to Canmore. And Highway 40 is open from Highway 1 to Highway 68, though campgrounds and hotels in the area are not yet ready to take customers.

With files from Erika Stark, Amanda Stephenson and David Fraser, Calgary Herald

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